Dominant Red Coat Color in Holstein Cattle Is Associated with a Missense Mutation in the Coatomer Protein Complex, Subunit Alpha (COPA) Gene.

ABSTRACT: Coat color in Holstein dairy cattle is primarily controlled by the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene, a central determinant of black (eumelanin) vs. red/brown pheomelanin synthesis across animal species. The major MC1R alleles in Holsteins are Dominant Black (MC1RD) and Recessive Red (MC1Re). A novel form of dominant red coat color was first observed in an animal born in 1980. The mutation underlying this phenotype was named Dominant Red and is epistatic to the constitutively activated MC1RD. Here we show that a missense mutation in the coatomer protein complex, subunit alpha (COPA), a gene with previously no known role in pigmentation synthesis, is completely associated with Dominant Red in Holstein dairy cattle. The mutation results in an arginine to cysteine substitution at an amino a

SUBMITTER: Dorshorst B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4456281 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature